Employees of the Quarter: Congratulations to the following staff members who have been selected to receive the Employee of the Quarter award for the Spring 2009 period:
Seven Hills Foundation, Holly Fennell
Children’s Aid & Family Service, Carolinda Warter & Cindy Staples
Seven Hills Behavioral Health, David West
Seven Hills Clinical Associates, Megan Roy
Seven Hills Community Services, Nancy Best – Central area, Jessica Vanderhoydonc – Northeast & Leslie Luciani – Southeast area
Seven Hills Family Services, Johanne Demarco
Seven Hills Pediatric Center, Mary Butler
The Homestead Group, Holly Kaiser

Zenger Miller Graduates: Congratulations to the April 2009 graduates from the Zenger Miller Leadership Series. Christy Gagnon - RD Harrington Way; Lungile Gardner – RD Kirkland; Joyce Goudreau – RD Barre; Keisha Grant – TWO; Amy Keyes – RD Patti Lane; Brandi Parks – RD Wildwood; Connie Mimoso-Rocha – SHBH; Mike LaTour – SHF Information Technology; Diane Vega – SHPC; Gogo Bellamour – AD SHCS; Karen Blanchette – SHBH; Azleen Shays – Worcester Day Hab; Sharon Kanyangara – RD 260A Lynnfells; and Renee Kirkland – TWO. Tom Unsworth was the instructor for the series.

Also congratulations to Sarah Cousins – RD Dinah’s Way. She was part of the Achieving Stellar Service class that graduate in January from Bourne but was missed in the announcement.

Human Rights Forum: The Department of Mental Retardation will be holding a Human Rights Forum at the National Guard Museum in Worcester on June 15th. The session will include a panel discussion and a town meeting with Commissioner Howe. The forum starts at 9 am and goes to noon. The forum is free. Directions at: http://states.ng.mil/sites/MA/resources/museum/directions/default.aspx

Staff Suggestion: Several staff have suggested that we establish a staff networking page on www.sevenhillsstaff.org. This would be a site for staff to share information that might be interesting/helpful to other staff. Some of the content categories that have been suggested include: Hints on how Seven Hills can save money, how staff can save money in their personal lives, vacation recommendations with videos/photos and classes/courses that staff have found useful. The content has to benefit other staff so no wedding pictures, graduation announcements, etc. Also, this would not be a replacement for CraigsList so no selling of items would be included.

We are interested in hearing your thoughts on this possible site as well as content suggestions. Email your comments and ideas to jmccormack@sevenhills.org.

Cell Phone Update: Staff have been doing a great job at reducing our monthly cel phone bill. Here is another suggestioin. Last month we spent almost $200 on 411 calls ($1.98 each). Google offers a free service at 1-800-4664-411. Thanks to Ron Tanguay (Homestead) and Mike LaTour (Foundation) for the idea. March 16, 2009

Safety First Program Update: For the past seven years Seven Hills has participated in the Safety First Driving Program. You are probably most familiar with this program through the Safety First stickers on Seven Hills owned vehicles. The purpose of this program is to assure our employees safely operate vehicles transporting the people we support. Here is how the program operates. When a member of the public observes one of our vehicles being operated in an unsafe manner they can contact the Safety First company via a toll-free number on the van sticker and file a report. A report is then sent to Seven Hills for action. Staff identified as driving in an unsafe manner receive special safety materials and instruction from their supervisor. In some cases, staff are required to take the Driver Awareness training again.

During 2008 we received 65 reports of unsafe driving (slightly up from 2007). Thus far in 2009 the number of reports is consistent with the 2008 numbers. The most common offenses reported are improper lane change, not signaling when turning and cutting other drivers off. Please remind your drivers to always use their turn signals and to double check that they have enough room when changing lanes. Lets drive even more safely and reduce the number of reports in 2009. March 12, 2009

Staff Reduce Cell Phone Bill by $700 in One Month. Just one month into our program to reduce cell phones costs staff with Seven Hills provided devices have lowered the February bill by over $700 (as compared to January). As a special incentive to keep up the good work many staff (especially those that have reduced their bills) will be receiving upgraded cell phones over the next month. Mike Latour, IT Associate and Cell Phone Program Manager has arranged a special deal with Sprint by will each new upgraded phone will cost Seven Hills less than a dollar.

Health Insurance Announcement: We are pleased to announce that we have selected Fallon Community Health Plan as our health insurance carrier effective March 1, 2009. Changing health insurance carriers will allow us to maintain the same level of health insurance benefits without a significant cost increase to our employees. All benefits eligible employees, including those currently enrolled in the Tufts health insurance plan or those enrolling for the first time, must complete a Fallon enrollment form or risk losing their health insurance coverage. It is also open enrollment for Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA). To obtain information about your health insurance benefits, please contact the Human Resources Office at 508-755-2340 ext. 227.

Seven Hills Cell Phones: Over the past few months the cost of cell phone usage at Seven Hills has been increasing substantially. Over the next few months we will be looking at various ways to reduce our monthly charges. Here are two reminders that may help you to assist us in our cost saving efforts: 1. Calls from one Sprint phone to another Sprint phone are free. Calls from a Sprint phone to a landline cost minutes. For example, if you’re an Area Director calling a Residence Director please call them on their cell phone. 2. For most plans, calls after 7 pm and on weekends are free. Thank you for your assistance.